HONOLULU — Susan Hippensteele, an associate professor in the women‘s studies program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, was awarded the 2005 Robert W. Clopton Award for outstanding community service. The Clopton award recognizes a Mānoa faculty member who has played a socially significant role by applying intellectual leadership and academic expertise to the improvement of the community.

Inspired by the philosophy of women‘s studies as a vehicle for social justice, Hippensteele gives her time generously to women and families who would not otherwise have access to legal services. She combines her teaching at the university with volunteer service to women whose legal needs are usually based on potentially life-threatening circumstances of domestic violence and child abuse.

Hippensteele is active in civil rights work and shares the university‘s educational resources with local communities. By bringing together UH faculty with lawyers in nonprofit groups to create Legal Services Providers Network, she has forged a unique tie between UH and local communities. Her ongoing work with the law school to set up needed clinics that will train law students to balance their legal education with community service will give them the skills to practice public interest law.

Hippensteele serves on numerous boards and legislative committees, as well as serving as a pro bono attorney to several community groups.

Hippensteele will be recognized for her contributions to the university along with other UH award winners at a system-wide ceremony in September.

About the University of HawaiʻiEstablished in 1907 and fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the University of Hawaiʻi is the state‘s sole public system of higher education. The UH System provides an array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees and community programs on 10 campuses and through educational, training, and research centers across the state. UH enrolls more than 50,000 students from Hawaiʻi, the U.S. mainland, and around the world. For more information, visit www.hawaii.edu.